Bella - The Perfect Newborn
by TM Twilight Girl
Summary: This is my account of what Bella ultimately did to earn her first vampire spanking. It is set in my Fatherly Duties universe, though reading the other stories isn't necessary to understand this one. WARNING: It will contain disciplinary spanking, & it's somewhat harsher than my other two Fatherly Duties stories. Read, Review, please don't flame. (I don't own Twilight.)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – End of an Era**

**Bella POV**

One of the extremely clear memories I had from my human days was the one and only time Dad spanked me before my change. Surprisingly, I remembered it even though I didn't purposely try to hold on to that _precious_ memory. I have no idea why that memory stuck, but I was sure glad that it did. For nearly a year, every time I even thought about doing something out of line, the relentless barrage of my vampire father's hand came to the forefront of my mind. I didn't find it overly harsh. In fact, I knew I deserved every single swat. It was just one of those formative experiences that shaped my early days of being a vampire. And because of this memory, unlike every other newborn, except Carlisle, I was extremely well behaved. Because of this, my siblings (and my husband, for that matter) began calling me white-noser.

I really don't want to get into why they call me that. It's too embarrassing.

Speaking of my siblings and husband, they had all begun to take bets on what I would do to finally earn my first vampire spanking. Alice, the big hypocrite, refused to bet because she couldn't see our futures well enough now that Renesmee and Jacob constantly disrupted her visions. They all pressured her to bet, but she wouldn't give in. (Personally, I thought this was hysterical. Alice wouldn't make a bet unless she knew for sure from a vision what the outcome would be. She pretended it was because she was above it all, but we all knew the truth. She didn't want to be wrong.) Everyone else, other than Edward, said that my first spanking would be because I lied, or fudged the truth a bit, to Carlisle to get someone out of trouble.

_That_ was not going to be the reason I got a spanking. I personally saw my own propensity to do such a thing and thankfully was properly scared away with a warning from Dad. I caught a glimpse of his anger over that particular sin when Emmett was playing Hulk for Renesmee and _accidentally _destroyed Esme's favorite vase. When asked what had happened, I started to tell him that I didn't want to tattle, but he implored me to rethink my answer, lest I get the spanking that the deserving party had earned. Needless to say, I ratted Emmett out, and I tried very hard to never disappoint Dad in that way.

Edward guessed that my first trip across dad's lap would be because of something completely different. It turned out that he knew me better than anyone. That shouldn't have surprised me. I should have listened to him and taken precautions to keep myself in line in that area. That would have saved me a sore bottom and a whole lot of guilt.

My winning streak was broken on Renesmee's birthday. When I say my winning streak was broken, I mean _really _broken, as in I grabbed it, threw it down, stomped it, buried it, dug it up, beheaded it, burned it and spit on the ashes. That's how bad I screwed up, no exaggeration.

After a very long and ridiculously lavish birthday party (I won't go into the details because I'm still pissed that Alice went completely overboard after promising to keep it reasonable), Jacob asked to take Renesmee to the reservation for a little bit.

The rest of us decided to take that opportunity to have either alone time or quality time with someone other than our spouse. Edward and Carlisle went for a run together. Emmett and Jasper went the other way with a football to play catch, or at least Emmett's asinine competitive version of catch. Esme wanted some time to herself to watch some back episodes that she had DVR-ed from the DIY channel. Rosalie decided to tune up all of our cars, and Alice (because she made the party pictures posted on Pintrest look like they were decorated by monkeys,) had to clean up the mess from the party. I decided to sit on the stoop in front of our house and ponder all that had happened to me in the last few years. I took a photo album with me so that I could further cement the human memories in my mind.

I started with the human memories, taking long moments to savor and really remember how I felt about what happened, all the sights, smells, and sounds of the memory. Some were a struggle, and I made a mental note to ask Charlie or Renee about them to help jog my memory.

Then I thought through my relationship with Edward, carefully skimming right past my dark days when Edward was gone. I replayed every kiss in my mind, relishing how he still dazzles me with just a look. Some of the scenes I remembered were rather steamy, and I was glad that Jasper had left. I didn't want him wondering why I was all hot and bothered on the front porch by myself.

Finally, I made it to my pregnancy with Renesmee, I remembered the struggle, the fight that I had with my family _and _my own body to keep my precious daughter alive. Only Rosalie stood by my side. Esme was there as well, supporting my decision, but Rosalie _fought_ to protect my little baby. Edward hated Rosalie for valuing Renesmee's life more highly than mine, but he didn't understand that was the precise reason I chose her. I too valued Renesmee's life more than my own. She was my priceless treasure, and I would have died to save her. I _did_ die to save her.

These thoughts were weighing heavily on my mind when I heard Jacob's motorcycle. I thought for a moment that I must be mistaken. Jake was with Renesmee. He wouldn't be on his bike. He _never_ talked with Edward or me about riding with our daughter, yet here he was with Renesmee in front of him, doing sixty-five… on a gravel road!

I clenched my teeth angrily, prepared to give him a piece of my mind the instant he stopped. But he didn't stop, not like I expected him to. He cut the wheels sharply and laid the motorcycle on its side, skidding forward (with my daughter, my priceless treasure) until it stopped millimeters from the first step up to the house.

I saw red. I didn't care that my daughter giggled in delight and asked him to do it again. I couldn't believe how recklessly Jacob had behaved with her. As soon as he stood to dust his pants, I sprinted over in front of him, grabbed him, and threw him about fifty yards down the driveway.

I vaguely remember my daughter trying to get my attention to show me that Jacob was teasing, but I ignored her, directing her to go in the house with Nana and Auntie Alice.

I didn't wait to see if she obeyed. I simply ran as fast as I could over to where Jacob stood, laughing. I couldn't believe that he found this remotely funny. I was going to rip his head off. I raised my hand to land my first blow when I heard my name.

"Bella, sweetheart." Esme called me. "Why don't you calm down? I see that you're upset, and I understand…"

"No." I growled at her, and started to tell her that she couldn't possibly understand, but even in my rage, I knew that she did.

"Bella," Esme tried again, this time, her voice was still calm, but it sounded more like an order than before, "You and Edward can discuss this with Jacob once you've gotten control of yourself."

"She is MY daughter, and _I_ will decide how to protect her!" I chased Jacob into the forest, as my ire had really frightened him. He sought to put distance between us rather than stick around and see how badly I was going to beat him.

He stopped when he realized that he couldn't outrun me. I stalked around him, ready to strike, allowing him to feel fear, as I had felt when I saw him skid with my daughter on the motorcycle.

"And _you_ are _my _daughter." Esme caught up with me and scolded me gently, reminding me of my place. Unfortunately, I ignored her warning, growling at Jacob as I circled him. She continued. "And I will protect you… even from yourself."

In my anger I spun toward her and snarled angrily at her, bearing my teeth at my gently mother.

"Bella!" She sounded shocked that I would do such a thing.

I turned my back on her, knowing she would never attack me. I became singularly focused on my prey, Jacob Black.

"Isabella Marie Cullen." She very sternly reprimanded me, calling me by my whole name for the first time ever. "You will quit acting like a child and walk away from Jacob, this instant." I ignored her and crouched down to attack. "You will not attack your best friend."

Jacob had his hands up in surrender, trying to placate me, but when I saw him, I thought not of my defenseless, surrendering best friend, but of how he could have killed my daughter. I jumped at him, ready to…, not _really_ kill him, but definitely make him think twice about endangering my daughter. Sooner than I anticipated, I made contact, but it wasn't Jacob who stood in my way. In my rage, I grabbed hold of the arm I saw in front of me and slung its owner out of my way, ripping the arm clean off the body as I threw. I locked eyes with Jacob again and began to walk slowly over to him.

The sound of my sobbing mother brought me to my senses. It was like a cold bucket of water thrown on me when I looked down and saw her arm still in my hands.

"Oh, no!" I cried as I ran to her. She cringed away from me, probably afraid that I was still enraged. "I-I-I can't believe I did that. Let me help you, Mom." I cried, assuring her of my worried, rather than angry, demeanor. I reattached her arm as she tried to hold in her cries of pain. It looked as if the fear had subsided once she knew I had regained my senses.

"Jacob." My voice shook, distressed over my own actions rather than his. "Take Nessie back to our house, and tell Alice and Rosalie…"

"Tell them Bella and I need some privacy." Esme finished for me. From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was still in pain, but I couldn't tell how angry she was with me or even if she hated me for hurting her. "But expect a discussion later about motorcycles and my granddaughter. And if you should see Edward, please keep this incident to yourself."

Jacob said nothing, but simply nodded and ran off toward the house.

"Mama, I'm…" It sounded so empty to tell her that I was sorry for hurting her. I had already said it once, but it could never make up for the harm I had done to my loving mother who had done nothing but try to help me. "I deserve to be ripped to shreds."

"Let's go to the house." She suggested, taking me by the hand with her uninjured hand. "No one is going to rip you to shreds, sweetie."

I had no idea what to say or do. I had screwed up in a major way, and now Dad was going to give me the whipping of my existence, if he even allowed me to stay with them. I deserved it. I walked with my head down back to the house in silence, willing to accept whatever Dad saw fit to do to me.

Unfortunately, but not entirely out of the ordinary, Emmett and Jasper had ruined the football and had come back to the house for another one. Emmett saw me with my head down, and he laughed.

"What did you do, white-noser?" Emmett bellowed loudly. "Did you step on a bug or something, and now you need to have a time-out?"

I began crying in earnest at his words, not able to tell him what I had really done. He would hate me. I had ripped his mom's arm off.

"Enough." Esme scolded him, as Jasper dragged him, very worriedly out of the house, forgetting their desire for a new ball.

After they left, we finally made it up to Carlisle's office. She sat on the couch and pulled me down beside her. She took a few calming deep breaths, and I realized that she was planning on spanking me herself. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she still loved me if she was bothering to spank me. My relief was short-lived when I realized exactly what that would have done to me had I been in her place and Renesmee in mine, not to mention the extreme pain in her arm, her spanking arm.

"May I say something, Mama?" I asked her.

"Of course, sweetheart, as long as you are respectful." She answered me, making me feel awful about being disrespectful to her earlier.

"I don't want you to think that I'm not apologetic, but I also don't want you to think that I think an apology is enough. I promise to make a proper apology when… I mean after…" My speech was inarticulate. "A-a-also, I-I'm… not… I'm not…" I faltered, struggling to form rational sentences, "trying to get out of this, because I know I deserve any punishment you want to give me, and also whatever Dad decides to do." Decapitation seemed like a distinct possibility for what I had done. "I promise I won't fight you," I was rambling, barely daring to breathe, "but I don't want to cause you any more pain. I know you're hurting, and I ripped off your right arm. And…"

"Slow down, Bella." She interrupted me. "Take a few breaths, and calm down. I can see that you are remorseful for what you've done, and I appreciate that you understand how a simple _sorry_ won't take back what happened."

I nodded, grateful that she correctly interpreted my nonsensical speech. Since she knew my heart on the matter, I vowed to myself that I would not utter any apology until this was all over.

"Being a mother," I continued my earlier thought, "I know how hard this is, and I know what Edward would do if Renesmee had hurt me, so I thought that…" I trailed off, not knowing how to finish my sentence.

"You want to spare me the emotional pain of spanking you?" She laughed, clearly not believing me. "I've heard that one before, sweetheart."

"I'll take two or five or ten from Dad, but please don't do this to yourself." I begged her earnestly, honestly not wanting to put her through this. "Like I said, I won't fight you on this. If you decide to spank me, I'll submit, but I… I was going to say that I would prefer to wait for Dad, but I don't mean because it's what I want for me or that I think you're incapable or not allowed to or anything like that. I truly, truly don't want to put you through this after what I already did to you."

"I apologize for assuming that you were trying to get out of something. I see now that you're not. _And_ I understand where you are coming from, Bella, but would you allow your daughter to wait for Edward if you were in my position, after she had so willfully disrespected you?" Mom asked me. "Or would you spank your errant daughter yourself?"

"I would spank her myself." I answered her.

Not wanting to put this off any longer or wanting distress her any more by arguing, I silently unfastened my pants and pushed them down, and placed myself across my mother's lap. Once I got there, I realized this was far worse than what I had done to earn my last spanking, and I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of my panties and lowered them as well. I know for certain that Dad would have and probably still would spank me on the bare bottom, that is, if he decided to be merciful. I still felt as though I deserved much worse.

Mom waited a few moments, probably out of shock that I actually meant what I said about fighting her, or maybe that I voluntarily bared my own bottom, a punishment that all of the other Cullen children try to avoid. I knew that they must have hated it both for the physical pain and the embarrassment, but I _also_ knew that I had done more than enough to earn this.

I heard Mom raise her hand to deliver the first blow, but it never came. Instead she whimpered and lowered her arm. It seems the pain I had caused her still affected her horribly. Knowing that I had caused this pain, hurt me more than any spanking ever could.

"It seems as though you were right, Bella." She admitted to me sadly. "My arm hurts too much to give you the spanking I had intended. Your chastisement would have literally physically hurt me more than it hurt you. I'm sure your father would be less than pleased if I injured myself more to spank you. We will have to wait for your him to arrive." She sighed regretfully, probably because she knew that Carlisle would have to take on the entire task of disciplining me by himself, and she hoped to spare him some of that unpleasantness. "I will require you to wait in this position until he arrives. It will show us both that you are ready to be submissive."

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded, thoroughly embarrassed, but accepting of her punishment. Earlier, when I hoped to dissuade her from spanking me herself, I had thought of offering to stand in the corner until Dad arrived, but this was worse… and more appropriate. It not only reminded me that she was my mother, it also served to help me replay in my mind, over _and over_, what I had done to end up in this position.

After several careful reviews of the events that led up to attacking my mother, I realized that I had committed many crimes before I actually injured her. First, I had set a terrible example for my daughter. What would she think of the way I behaved today? Next, I had lost my temper with Jacob. Then, I refused to calm down when my mother told me to, growling at her in the process. My temper flared even more, and I snarled at her, and finally deliberately disobeyed her. The reason she got hurt was because she didn't want me to hurt Jacob, and I refused to heed her instruction. While she implored me to calm down, the only thought in my head was revenge, not justice, revenge. It wasn't long before I began crying over my mother's lap, deeply ashamed of how much pain I had caused her. I had been foolish, impetuous, and disrespectful.

I lost track of time in my despair. I was brought out of my self-flagellation by my father's voice.

"What did she do?" Dad asked Mom, sounding like he thought that maybe she had been overly harsh with me, but knowing that it couldn't possibly have been true. "And how long did you spank her?"

"I'll let her explain what she's done, if she can… and for your information, I didn't spank her at all." Mom told him.

"Sweet pea." Dad addressed me concerned, and I caught my breath to answer him. My inner monologue chastised me, and reminded me that he probably wouldn't be eager to call me Sweet pea after he had heard what I have done to his wife. "Care to explain why you are in that position?"

"I'll tell you the whole story after you make sure Mama's arm is all right." I told him, remembering the whimper she made when attempted to spank me. Also, I had never reattached a limb before, I could have done it the wrong way.

"What's wrong with you arm, love?" Carlisle asked her as he looked over her injury.

"Bella will tell you in a moment." She told him, and his breath caught. He probably realized from my position and mom's cryptic comments, I had done this to her.

"It will hurt for a few days, love, but it will heal just fine." He told her, and I heard him kiss her. "I'm sorry."

"I know." She sighed. "I've seen the kids after a fight before. I just didn't realize that it was this uncomfortable."

"So much so that you couldn't spank our wayward daughter?" He asked her, but I didn't hear an answer. She probably nodded. Dad began speaking again, this time he seemed extremely irritated, "Speaking of which, she had better start explaining."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Husband and Father, Justice and Mercy**

**Carlisle POV**

I couldn't believe the scene I had come home to. Edward and I were about a mile away from the house when he reached out and grabbed me. Horror etched all over his face.

"What?" I asked, terrified that something had happened to one of my children, or worst of all, my wife.

"Bella is lying over Mom's lap, crying. I think Mom had to spank her." Edward explained, leaning toward the house, wanting to come to Bella's rescue.

"The you had better head to your house while I investigate." I told him.

"Carlisle." Edward growled at me, not a serious growl, but enough to let me know that he didn't like my suggestion. He ran closer to Bella, ignoring my command. "She…"

"Edward Anthony Cullen." I reprimanded him, causing him to stop in his tracks with my sharp tone. I let him know without a doubt that my previous statement had been a command, not a recommendation. "Are you implying that _your mother_, has unjustly spanked Bella?" I asked him incredulously. "I don't even think she could do such a thing."

"But Bella never…" He argued again.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Edward." I reminded him, gently placing my hand on his shoulder. I briefly worried that Esme was the one who made the mistake. Edward narrowed his eyes at me, and I answered with a promise… "I will find out what happened." and a warning. "Go to your house now, and I will forget about this little _mistake_ of yours."

Though he clearly didn't like it, he sprinted off in the direction of his cottage. I made my way to the larger house, glad that Edward had obeyed. I didn't know what I would find when I probed into what led to Esme spanking Bella, but I knew that the last thing I needed was to get Edward back in line as well.

As I ran towards the house, I could tell that Edward was right, at least about the crying. I could hear my Sweet pea weeping, each wail wracked with guilt. From the sound of it, she was deeply ashamed of what had landed her in that position, and she was nowhere near forgiving herself. She did not seem angry or indignant as if she had been falsely accused or refused to believe what she had done was wrong. Her self-castigating cries told me that she knew _exactly_ why she was over her mother's lap. Even though I didn't know what Bella had done, I knew that I was going to have to discipline Bella as well, and I would have to be rather harsh with her. I thanked God that she was usually so well behaved. I wouldn't have had the strength to bring her back in line as much as I had done with some of my other children when they were newborns.

I walked into my office, thinking I was prepared for what I would see, but I was not. Edward had failed to mention that Bella had received a bare bottom spanking. Granted he may not have known because Esme may not have been thinking about that part when Edward read her mind. Either way, I was positively shocked when I walked in to see Bella with both her pants and undergarments down around her knees. Not only was it hard to believe Bella had disobeyed severely enough to warrant such a punishment, but also a bare bottomed spanking was something my wife had _never_ given to any of the other children. Needless to say, I was very confused and worried for my dear wife.

"What did she do?" I asked my wife, trying to keep the fear out of my voice that she had been overly harsh. Though I worried before, I _knew_ in my heart that wasn't even possible. Though it might have seemed accusatory, I actually only wondered what had led to this scene and why Bella had not yet forgiven herself. My next question was purely only to probe the depth of Bella's guilt. If Esme had already spanked our daughter quite thoroughly, then how much more would it take for Bella to have a breakthrough? "And how long did you spank her?"

"I'll let her explain what she's done, if she can," she looked down at Bella. Something was off about her voice. It must have been a terrible ordeal for her, or maybe she thought that I doubted her, "and for your information, I didn't spank her at all." I winced that she thought I was accusing her, but honestly, it shocked me that she hadn't yet landed a swat. Why was Bella sobbing dejectedly over my wife's lap, bare bottomed, if my wife never spanked her?

"Sweet pea." I tried to ask her in as normal of a tone as possible, using my pet name for her. "Care to explain why you are in that position?"

"I promise I'll tell you the whole story after you make sure Mama's arm is all right." She sniffled as she spoke out of great concern for her mother, but making very sure that I knew that she had every intention of complying once I cared for her mother.

"What's wrong with you arm, love?" I focused my attention on my darling wife, who gestured toward her right shoulder.

I rolled up my Esme's sleeve and examined what looked like a healing crack where someone had ripped off her arm. When I saw the crack, I nearly punched a hole in the wall and demanded the offender be brought to justice. Instead, I swallowed, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath before I examined her delicate shoulder.

"Bella will tell you in a moment." Esme explained, wincing as I touched the tender area.

I couldn't believe my ears. My little Sweet pea had hurt her mother. I had to be jumping to conclusions, right? She was so well behaved, incredibly well behaved. I could hardly believe it.

Regardless of the culprit, my wife, my sweet Esme had been severely injured. I had to take a few deep breaths to calm down. Even though I had always been considered a very human vampire, the thought of my beloved suffering, especially at the hand of one of my children, infuriated me, and I had to control my rage before I continued.

"It will hurt for a few days, love, but it will heal just fine." I kissed her arm where the crack was, distracting myself from my anger by giving my wife much needed affection. I only wished that kisses could literally make it feel better. "I'm sorry."

"I know. I've seen the kids after a fight before. I just didn't realize that it was this uncomfortable." She said _uncomfortable_ like it was much more than that, but she didn't want to upset me or possibly even Bella more than we already were.

"So much so that you couldn't spank our wayward daughter?" I asked rhetorically, I knew exactly how much pain she was in. If this had happened to me, I would have had to ask Esme to step in to discipline or wait for three days before I could administer the proper spanking. It isn't practical to switch arms because we both use our off hand to steady our children, especially when they are over our laps. On top of that, a spanking is a very jarring experience, and it would be impossible to not feel every swat, no matter which hand delivered the blow.

My wife nodded sadly and looked pointedly at our daughter. Esme clearly thought that Bella had been torturing herself for too long. I'm afraid that some of my ire seeped into my speech when I addressed my daughter, but I couldn't help it. Esme was my beloved, my other half. The need to protect rose up inside me.

"Speaking of which, she," meaning Bella, "had better start explaining."

Bella took a breath and let it out raggedly. I could tell that she was trying to speak, but she had great difficulty forming words.

"Wouldn't you rather she looked at you while she explained?" Esme asked me, as she reached out with her good hand and stroked my cheek, looking like she wanted nothing more than to take our daughter in her arms and hold her, to remind her that she loved her.

"I thought she was in this position for a reason, Esme, dear." I told her, leaning into her palm, but gritting my teeth in frustration at Bella.

"Because I tried to spank her but couldn't." She reminded me, looking down at her lap, feeling badly that Bella still hurt over whatever happened. When she looked up at me, her eyes pled with me to please allow our daughter to sit and speak.

"What do you think, Bella?" I asked her, tearing my gaze away from my wife. "Do you think you should sit up and discuss this like adults?"

"I don't deserve to!" She wailed. "I…"

I got the feeling that she was about to start telling me what an awful person she was, and I was about to agree with her. She was interrupted by her mother righting her and fixing her clothing with only her left hand. It looked difficult, but Esme managed.

I knew that her pants and undergarment were going to come back off because if my wife had deemed Bella's behavior bad enough to spank her on the bare, I certainly wasn't going to decide differently. Esme however, wanted nothing more than to assure our child that she was loved.

"I love you, dear one." Esme told Bella as she hugged her with her good arm. Bella embraced her mother, probably harder than she should have considering Esme's fragile state. But at the moment, Esme didn't let on that the action caused any discomfort whatsoever. Bella, in her emotional distress, clung to her ever-loving mother, sobbing onto her shoulder. "Nothing will ever change that, sweetheart."

"But I hurt you!" Bella screamed in guilt over injuring her mother, muffled somewhat by Esme's blouse. "And I growled at you _and_ snarled at you, and I defied you twice, not to mention what a terrible example I've been to Nessie, all because…"

My little Sweet pea had accomplished quite a lot in the course of a few hours. I sat in mortified silence as Bella rattled of her list of crimes. It took a great deal of restraint and my wife's withering gaze to keep me from teaching my young daughter a lesson in civility this very second.

"Enough, Bella." Esme told her, and Bella became very quiet. "Tell your father the whole story, sweetheart, and no editorializing to make yourself look worse."

I had to bite back a grin at that one. Even though I was very disappointed, (and still more than a little angry at her, if I'm honest with myself), in my daughter's behavior, I knew that she had a propensity for embellishing a story so that she would seem worse than she actually had been.

Bella took a deep breath and recounted a tale of Jacob and the motorcycle with her daughter and how she had lost her temper and attacked Jacob, severely injuring her mother in the process.

I started to speak, but Esme held up her good hand. After hearing all of what my young daughter had said, I could see why Bella flown into a rage. It didn't excuse her behavior, but... I could now understand it. In fact, I wasn't far from making that same mistake when I saw Esme's injury. Bella's story unquestionably helped me control my own temper. I didn't need a moment to calm down, but my wife needed to add something to the story. I patiently waited for my wife to say her peace.

"I want you to know how utterly submissive Bella has been since the incident. When she asked to wait for you to spank her, she did so very respectfully, and made sure it was clear that she willingly accepted my decision whether or not she agreed, and it was purely because she was concerned for me, not because she felt that only you had the right to discipline her." Esme advocated for our daughter, causing Bella to become very embarrassed. "In fact, she very meekly went over my knees without even being asked to do so and lowered her own panties of her own volition."

She… what? I couldn't believe my ears. Our daughter truly was a bizarre creature.

"Sweet pea, you should teach a class on how to behave during a spanking." I teased her, trying to let them know that I wasn't nearly as upset as I was before. "I know several of the others who could use…"

"No way!" She cut across me, looking horrified at the prospect. "They already call me a white-noser enough, don't you think?"

"I never understood what that meant." I admitted to her. "But yes, they do call you that quite frequently."

"It doesn't matter; never mind." She mumbled.

"I have to know now." I told her, my curiosity piqued.

"Umm…" Bella hedged.

"You shouldn't have brought it up, Bella. Now he's never going to let it drop." Esme wisely counseled our daughter, having known that I was as stubborn as a mule when I set my mind on something, although… I wondered if she actually wanted to know the meaning of that phrase as well.

"It's embarrassing!" Bella begged me to just forget about it.

"About you? Are they bullying you?" I became defensive of my daughter.

"No… umm… they aren't _bullying_ me." She emphasized the word. "It's… about… … … _you_." Bella very reluctantly told me, whispering the last word.

"Me?"

"Yeah," she looked down away from my gaze, clearly not wanting to continue, "one of my siblings," when she didn't say which, I tipped her chin up so that she was forced to look me in the eye, "I think you'll figure it out. It's kind of obvious." She told me. I let it go, knowing that this wasn't a life or death situation. "Anyway his… or her theory is that you are so straight-laced and were as a human that your… _poop_ was white, not brown. And I am such a kiss… a kiss… _up_ that my nose would be white, not brown."

"Only Emmett…" I mused, chuckling to myself. Emmett's joke was extremely corny, and not really funny. But… Bella's censored version made the explanation sound hilarious. I loved the way she said _poop_ when knowing Emmett, he would have said _shit_, and she substituted _kiss-up_ when Emmett most probably called her a _kiss-ass_. I normally didn't tolerate vulgar language, mainly because we didn't want Renesmee cursing like a sailor, but this incident could be overlooked as long as it wasn't a pattern.

Esme, who had never heard this explanation before either was reduced to a fit of giggles. Bella was the only one of us not laughing. This reminded me of why we were here.

"Anyway… Bella was still over your knees when I arrived because…?" I prodded my wife to continue.

"Because I asked her to stay there until you arrived." She told me, looking very proudly at our daughter for complying so excellently. "I wanted her to be in a submissive position to remind her that I deserve her respect, and though corner time would have accomplished a similar goal, I felt the position she was in would help her focus more clearly. But now, I doubt myself, Carlisle." Esme looked at me terrified that she had scarred Bella for life. "Was I too harsh?"

"N-n-no!" Bella sobbed, her desperation was rekindled by Esme's self-doubt. "I… I…"

I interrupted Bella knowing exactly where she was going with this. I said nothing immediately, but I silenced her with my finger on her lips. Of all our children, my Sweet pea was extremely susceptible to guilt. It ate away at her. Though Esme's intent was to remind Bella to be respectful, she didn't realize that with our youngest daughter, making Bella wait was truly more punishment than spanking her. That being said, the wait couldn't be avoided. Hopefully, Bella has learned this lesson well, and it will never need to be repeated.

"Of course you were not too harsh, love." I assured Esme. "Neither one of us think that, do we, Sweet pea?"

"I-I-I love you Mama." Bella sniffled as she tightened her grip on Esme.

Esme cried with her, hugging Bella just as fiercely as Bella hugged her. I waited for their embrace to end before I continued.

"What do you propose I do, Sweet pea?" I asked her, not sure where to go from here. Other than her feeling of guilt, she was both accepting of her punishment and, though I hadn't heard her apologize, she obviously felt remorse over her actions. The only thing that remained was for her to feel that she was punished enough to be forgiven.

After asking her opinion on the matter, I could tell by the look on her face what she was about to ask of me. I decided to amend the request for her input. "And I had better not hear anything about detaching limbs from your body."

"Yes, Dad." She slumped but acquiesced. It took her a moment to come up with something, but in the end she told me, "I… I think you should spank me every day until Mom's arm is better."

I knew she would suggest a harsh punishment. She was not the only one to ever do that. In fact, the first time I disciplined Jasper, he had suggested that I separate his head, arms and legs from his body and leave them a great distance from one another, perhaps even bury them so that it would take a long time for them to reunite and he would be in agony the entire time. Thankfully, Bella didn't have that experience in her repertoire, or I was convinced that she would have suggested it as well. Of course, I would never have even considered such a thing. I have never and would never consider dismemberment as a punishment for one of my children.

"No." Esme and I said at the same time.

Bella started to protest, but I stopped her.

"The sentiment is noble, Sweet pea, and I appreciate your willingness to accept your punishment, but there is no way I would have you over my knee ever night for a week if it took that long for your mother to feel better." I explained.

"How about this," Esme suggested, "you spank Bella today, the same as you would for any of our children if they had injured me, and I will spank her when my arm is better?"

"I can't do that either, love." I told her. "This needs to be over today."

"But when I was human, you told Edward that if he gave Mama any trouble…" Bella started to remind me.

"Of course you would remember that little gem." I laughed and shook my head at her. She referred to a threat I had given Edward regarding being spanked for a week straight if he gave his mother any trouble. "You, Sweet pea, are not Edward. You are Bella. You are _much_ more sensitive than he is. Sometimes it takes multiple sessions to get through to him. And sometimes, he needs the reminder for a few days. With you, it does not. You would do nothing but wallow in self-hatred for the entire time until your punishment was complete." Though she looked like she was willing to despise herself for a few days, I added, "I don't think either one of our hearts," I motioned between Esme and myself, "could take that."

"Then I will suffer through spanking her myself." Esme bravely told us both.

"If you are looking to alleviate my burden, it is quite unnecessary." I told her smiling fondly at her. "If it is because you feel that Bella needs a reminder that you are her authority…"

"No, I feel that she understands that quite well." My wife grinned at me mischievously. I knew that she had thought she would take the load from me. Didn't she realize that her pain would not reduce my load in the slightest; it would only magnify the pain in my heart. After a brief moment, Esme continued. "I thought that Bella might need to know that I…" Esme stopped to catch her breath, "that I still loved her enough to spank her."

"I think that Bella learned that lesson already." I raised my eyebrows at Bella, who caught on immediately.

"I know you do Mama." Bella nodded and kissed her mother on the cheek, assuring her that she had no doubt about her love.

"Carlisle Cullen!" Esme gasped at me scandalized. "Did you just manipulate our daughter to conspire against me?"

"Maybe." I admitted sheepishly.

"Not _really_." Bella told us. If she were not wallowing in guilt right now, she would have rolled her eyes at us. I knew that Bella would never let her mother continue to believe that she didn't know she loved her. Despite all of Bella's self-castigation, she wouldn't let her mother do the same thing to herself. "I was going to say that anyway. I tried to get you to wait in the first place, Mom." She reminded Esme of her earlier plea.

"In any case, Carlisle." My wife narrowed her eyes at me, playfully so. "When my arm is healed, we will have words about this."

"Yes, ma'am." I tried to sound properly abashed, but it was difficult because I was impassioned by the strict tone in my wife's voice.

"Anyway, I want to make absolutely sure…" Esme looked into Bella's eyes.

"I know without a doubt, Mama." Bella assured her honestly, tenderly.

"Then we should talk about the actual punishment." Esme told her.

"I would like to do that with Dad alone, Mom." Bella told her biting her lower lip, clearly embarrassed over what she was about to ask of her mother. Esme was about to interrupt her, but I shook my head at her. I wanted to hear where Bella was going with this. "I actually need you to do something else for me. I know I have no right to ask this of you. Daddy can make sure I've learned my lesson." As she spoke, her resolve locked firmly into place as she spoke to her mother. "This is very important, Mama." Esme nodded to her, successfully distracted from the ridiculous notion she had of spanking our daughter herself while in great pain. I smiled at Bella gratefully. I couldn't read whether or not Bella was doing this to save Esme the heartache of spanking her. One thing I knew, it wasn't because she wanted to mitigate any punishment. "Since I haven't acted like an adult, I would like for you to sit in my place while Edward discusses with Jacob this whole motorcycle fiasco. I've behaved far too childishly today to get a say in that decision."

"You would trust me with this?" Esme beamed in joy over this opportunity.

I surreptitiously gave Bella a thumbs-up behind Esme's back. Bella hung her head in shame, and I knew that this was not a distraction for Esme, nor was it a way to keep her mother from feeling sad. _This_ was Bella's punishment for herself for being such a bad example for her own daughter. From the look in her eye, it wasn't even close to making up for her crimes. I knew that I had to move things along. Bella was going to continue her self-imposed Purgatory until I spanked her.

"You'd better get going, love." I leaned around our daughter to give Esme a kiss on the lips. "If Edward has caught wind of this, he may have started the discussion without Bella."

Before Esme had time to think about what I had said, I gracefully lifted Bella off of Esme's lap and placed her on mine.

"I should tell you that Edward knows Bella is in trouble and is likely to interrogate you once you get there." I told my wife, and Bella's breath hitched.

"I'll tell him that she lost her temper, and nothing more." She promised me, blowing me a kiss as she ran off toward the cottage.

"I'm sorry, Sweet pea." I told her, kissing her on the top of her head. "Edward read your mother's thoughts earlier. He only knows you are in trouble. He has no idea what you did."

"What I did was the most…" She started to rip herself to shreds again.

"Isabella." I scolded her gently. "I plan on spanking you for that."

"I still feel that you are going easy on me." Bella admitted, begging me to do something more… something that was more painful than a spanking.

"Trust me, I don't plan on going easy on you at all." I sighed, resigned to treat her as I would my other children, within reason of course. No two children are the same, and so discipline for each child will be a little different.

"Good." She answered me seriously.

"Then, let's discuss this." I told her, shifting my tone to a sterner voice. I lifted her off of my lap and placing her next to me so that I could look at her while I spoke.

She nodded, but didn't look at me as she was once again feeling the shame of her actions. I lifted her chin so that she was forced to look me in the eye while I talked to her.

"First," I began speaking, keeping the authority in my voice without being overly harsh, "let me assure you that I am taking into account that your instinct to protect your daughter overruled your judgment." Bella looked as if she was going to interrupt me, but thought better of it. "That _instinct_ is right on track, and I am proud of you for taking your daughter's life so seriously." She sighed, but nodded in agreement that her daughter was very special. I knew that she couldn't disagree with that. She had given her life to save Nessie when she had given birth to her, and again when the Volturri had come to kill her. "Instinct alone, however, does not excuse your assault on your mother."

"I know." She agreed, her lower lip trembling while she spoke.

"It also doesn't excuse the extreme disrespect you showed her by growling and snarling at her or the deplorable example you have set for your daughter." I reminded her, staring straight into her eyes.

Bella closed her eyes to escape my gaze. From the slump of her shoulders to the wringing of her hands, shame framed every cell in my daughter's body. But I needed her attention, to see in her eyes that she heard what I had said.

"Bella." I chided her softly, and she immediately opened her eyes. I continued after a few seconds of silence. I knew that later, I would have to be crueler with her, and I didn't want to go there now if I didn't have to.

"I feel that you have adequately punished yourself for setting a bad example for Renesmee, and I am also prepared to allow mother's punishment of you to stand for the disrespect. I feel that her decision to keep you over her knees in a submissive position served to be more effective than a spanking would have been for you." I informed her, and she looked very confused, but she said nothing.

"Nonetheless, I take assaulting your mother very seriously." I continued in my same even tone. "I intend to correct this behavior in a similar manner as I have when it happened with some of the other children."

She looked positively shocked that she wasn't the first to hurt Esme, but she knew better than to ask about it.

"When it happened before, the attack wasn't so severe that Esme couldn't deliver an initial spanking herself." I continued. "And after I came home, I spanked the offending party again as an extra reminder to respect their mother."

Bella bit her lip, angry with herself that she had hurt her mother worse than the others had before.

"Since your mother isn't available to administer the initial spanking," I continued before I lost her to self-hatred again, "I will spank you in the manner I believe she would have done if she were able." I informed her. "Afterwards, we will hunt, and I will spank you again, my way."

"Does Mom spank differently than you?" She sounded a bit confused.

"A bit, Sweet pea." I told her. "For instance, your mother isn't as forceful as I am, but I wasn't really speaking about the effect it has on your bottom. I was speaking about the effect it has on your heart. When I stand in for your mother, I'm not sure that you will quite feel forgiven when that session is complete. I am not entirely convinced that your mother's _technique_," I emphasized the word to let her know that it had nothing to do with the force of the spanking, "would be enough to help you let go and forgive yourself. My spanking will be… more _intense_." I deliberately left it cryptic so that she wouldn't know exactly what I had in mind. "I aim to make my spanking to leave a lasting impression on you. You will be completely spent when we are through."

I left out the part about Esme never spanking on the bare bottom because I felt that Bella wouldn't accept that as easily. Bella had willingly exposed her own backside earlier, and Esme had let it stand. I would spank her the same way.

"Okay," she nodded her head thoughtfully.

"Let's get started." I told her as I straightened myself on the couch and patted my legs.

Bella took a deep breath as she stood and lowered both her pants and undergarments and placed herself across my lap.

I recalled the spanking I had seen Esme give Alice as I started peppering my Sweet pea's bottom. As Esme had before, I spanked very quickly, releasing the flesh of Bella's bottom quickly, causing it to snap back into place harder without using as much force. I also spanked her five times in each spot before I moved on to the next spot. After I had covered her entire bottom, I began my lecture, as Esme would have.

Like when she was human, Bella didn't make a sound. She tensed, determined that she merited every bit of the spanking I was giving her.

"This is to never happen again, Isabella. Do you understand me?" I asked her a question, demanding an answer. By making her speak during the spanking, I could tell how it was affecting her and how much longer it was going to be.

"Yes, Daddy." Her voice was stiff and strained. Her words shook a bit, but she gritted her teeth in determination. She definitely wasn't close to crying. I had a fair amount of work to do.

I spanked my way around her bottom again, using a little more force than I had before. I continued my same pattern of five swats in a single place before I switched to a new place. This time, however, I didn't follow the same path. I went in a different, more unpredictable order. Bella's breath caught more often, and I could tell that she was getting closer crying.

"Your mother was only trying to help you, Isabella." I lectured again. "And how did you repay her?"

"I-I ripped off…" Bella let out in a huff, trying to desperately not cry, "her aaaaarm!"

Again, I increased the intensity of the spanking, past where Esme would have pushed it, but not quite as forceful as I would have had she been unrepentant.

A small sound escaped Bella's mouth, but only one. After she let that slip, she reinforced her resolve and quit breathing. I wondered if she had determined to take as much pain as possible before she gave in and cried. Though I had never said it aloud to any of my children, I believed that they figured out that my pattern of spanking until the will breaks. I knew that they all talked about being spanked, and Bella could easily surmise that I would spank until she broke. She believed she deserved to be in agony. Since she knew that I wouldn't dismember her, she stubbornly took as many stinging swats as she could, consciously forcing herself to not break.

I allowed her to do this, knowing my later spanking would be a whole different story.

"If you _ever_ touch your mother in anger again, young lady, I _will_ spank you every night for a week," I spanked her harder when I emphasized words. "Because if that happens, it will mean that this spanking meant _nothing_!" Again, to make her speak, I asked said something that demanded an answer. "Do you understand me, Sweet pea?"

"I-I-I'm s-s-s-s!" She cried, but stopped herself from apologizing. "I promise! I-i-i-it won't h-h-h-happen a-a-a-gain!" 

She started to break down and cry, but abruptly stopped, willing herself to rein it back in. I sighed, not surprised at all at her actions. Even so, I decided to leave it there, knowing that Esme would have never dared spank her further. I had already been more forceful than her mother would have been, but like I mentioned before, all of our children were different and needed to be treated differently. I declined to give her the finishing strokes because I knew the intensity of the spanking would never make my daughter break, not for a offense of this magnitude.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Not What I Expected**

**Bella's POV**

_That's it?_ I wondered as my father righted me and helped me with my pants. My dad had just given me the spanking that my mother would have given me had she been able, and I felt… weird. My bottom was sore, very sore, but… I didn't feel right. He did warn me that he didn't think Esme would have ever spanked me enough to help me forgive myself, but I didn't realize exactly what he meant. I thought he would at least continue until I cried.

He allowed me to sit for ten minutes in _comfort_ before we went hunting. But comforting, it was not. For the most part, I sat stiffly on his lap, wanting him to stop coddling me and really let me have it. I had torn his wife's arm off! I kind of wanted to punch him to entice him into being angry enough to really hurt me. Of course, I didn't punch him because then I would feel guilty for hitting him.

Then, I remembered that he was giving me Mom's spanking. I knew that she really hated spanking us. Of course, Dad hated it as well, but it was almost against Mom's nature to have to discipline us. That made me feel bad (I mean even worse) that they both hated spanking us, and I had forced them to do it with my uncontrolled temper.

The next random thought I had was that I thought that maybe Dad fudged a little bit about how Mom would spank me. Yes, Mom hated to spank us, but she knew we needed it. She couldn't possibly let any of her children off that easily. Maybe it was just me. I knew that I really needed to feel punished in order to forgive myself. If Mom had to spank me, would I really make her spank and spank and spank me until I gave in? How much heartache was I willing to give Mom just to feel forgiven? Should I cry early to alleviate her distress? No, that wasn't honest. I could only think of one thing.

"I don't want to insult Mom," I sheepishly approached the subject, knowing that Dad could totally take this the wrong way, "but maybe she shouldn't be allowed to spank me."

"It probably would have been more effective if you had felt it was an adequate punishment for your crime." He tried not to laugh at what I said. Clearly, he didn't take my comment the wrong way. More than anything, he sounded surprised that I had spoken at all. Most likely, he could sense the war going on in my mind.

"Maybe." I half-heartedly agreed with him. "I just don't want to hurt her by making her…"

"I'll make you a deal, Sweet pea." He offered. "If you ever find yourself in that position with your mother, and you feel that she hasn't sufficiently punished you, I will spank you again."

"You wouldn't have spanked any one of us again anyway if Mom had to spank us?" I wondered. "You are very protective of her."

"You're right. I am. But… I usually don't step in and re-spank children that she has punished. I wouldn't want to make her feel inadequate." He shook his head at me. "But for you… maybe. I will have to speak with her about it. Your self-forgiveness point seems to be more difficult to reach than the other children."

"I have heard that I'm stubborn." I agreed with him.

"I didn't notice." He became very sarcastic, laughing at me, shaking his head.

I tried to laugh with him, but the mirth wouldn't come. Dad noticed and sobered up.

"I am curious," he raised his eyebrow at me, "why did you stop yourself from saying that you're sorry?"

"I…" I stumbled over the words. "I didn't want you to stop just because I said it," he clearly knew that part already from the look on his face, "and I promised myself that I would make a proper apology to Mom later. Any apology given during punishment seems… insincere. I didn't want to cheapen the real apology later by saying it repeatedly."

Dad sighed. Somehow, at this moment, he looked much older. My episode of uncontrolled rage had caused him and continued to cause him a large amount of agony. He waited a few moments before he actually spoke. It looked like he was weighing his words carefully so that I wouldn't misunderstand them. Whatever he was about to tell me was of utmost importance, "Later, you will probably apologize." There was a warning in his voice; one carried the weight of the wisdom of his years. Though I didn't believe for a second that I would prematurely apologize, his certainty shook me a little. "And it _might_ mean that you want me to stop," I started to tell him that I wouldn't do that, but he held his hand up, wanting to continue, "and that's okay. I know that you will still mean your apology to your mother."

"Alright…" I half-heartedly agreed with him, believing that since I knew I had fully earned whatever he had in store for me, I would not beg him to stop.

I sat there in his lap, considering his words for some time. I probably should have been frightened as to what Dad had in mind for me, but all I could think was how much I deserved what he had in store for me, and… there was no way he could possibly punish me enough for what I had done.

I started thinking about how much pain Mom was in, and how my bottom stung, but couldn't possibly be sufficient for the amount of damage I had done. Dad rubbed my back and tried to let me know that he still loved me, but at this moment, I emotionally couldn't accept his love.

"It's been ten minutes, Sweet Pea. Time for a hunt." He announced sadly, looking rather care-worn, placing me on my feet in front of him. "Let's get going."

We jumped out the window and embarked on the most miserable hunt of my existence. Not only was I sore and rubbing up against my jeans, but also I knew that I was in for a much worse spanking as soon as we got back. It wasn't so much that I wanted to stall to put it off. It was that I wanted dad to spank me and get it over with. I started to wonder if the time lapse was part of the punishment.

That sounds terrible of me. How could I think that? The guilt over my thoughts didn't slowly creep up on me. It hit me like a lightning bolt. I wanted to slap myself in the face when I realized what I was doing. I am incredibly selfish. This wasn't about my comfort or my convenience. How could I possibly let my mind wander that way?! I am not unjustly accused here! I am a terrible person who tore off their mother's arm! This was my punishment. I didn't get to choose it. I needed to think of how awful mom still felt, and that dad had to spank me, not once, but twice. As a parent, I could empathize with him. If I had to spank my daughter twice, I would have been a complete mess. Waiting to finish her spanking would have been torture to me. And now Dad was being tortured in this way because of me.

"Penny for your thoughts, Sweet pea." Dad asked me after I had half-heartedly hunted, and lost an elk.

"You don't have to give me time to recover, Dad." I sighed, trying to explain to him that I was ready whenever he was without sounding like, let's get this over with. "But of course if this is part of my punishment…"

"You are hilarious, Bella." Dad chuckled at me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"While I have had children who wanted to just get it over with…" He started to explain, but I interrupted him.

"I didn't mean that!" I defended myself, _willing_ him to see that I only worried for how he was dealing with this prolonged discipline session.

"I know." He laughed at me. "That's what I meant. Others have basically told me to just get on with it, but not one of them worried so much over how spanking them would affect _me_."

"Probably because none of them are also parents." I reasoned. "Except Edward, of course… and you haven't spanked him since he became a parent."

"While I may not have spanked Edward since your daughter was born, I am confident that he would not react the same way you have." Dad argued with me, shaking his head and smiling. "The few times I've threatened him or suggested to him that he was heading in that direction, he hinted that he should be above such punishment now that he had become a parent, as if being a parent excluded him from also being my child."

"He doesn't think that we should be held to an even higher standard now that we have such an impressionable young daughter in our care?" I asked him, shocked that Edward had implied such a thing.

I'm sure that the disgust I felt over Edward's lack of responsibility reflected in my face. Dad tried not to laugh at my expression, but failed.

"Not quite, Sweet pea." He chuckled. "His theory is that if Renesmee knows that either of you get spanked, she will no longer see you as an authority figure."

"I don't agree." I told him, beginning to argue with him over what Edward had said. I think that you should…" I started to tell him that he should rip me apart… or something like that, but he interrupted me.

"Sweet pea." Dad chided me softly, the tone in his voice telling me that he wasn't going to subject me to cruel or unusual punishment. He ran to me and enveloped me in his arms. "I agree with you to a point, my daughter. You _should_ hold yourself to a higher standard… I understand _that_ better than you know."

I didn't get what he meant. Unless… "Do you mean to say that there is someone out there that you go to… to get…?"

"I suppose I should tell you…" he sighed, kissing the top of my head. "I don't want you to think that your mother and I are perfect parents, Sweet pea. We both have misbehaved before. When that happens, we have a system in place to hold us accountable for our misdeeds. None of the others are aware because, frankly, it wasn't their business. But circumstances being what they are, I feel that you need to know." He took a breath to let me think about that. When he continued, his voice was more hushed.

"When I behave in a manner unfitting of a family leader, your mother will come to me and present me with a list of crimes, or I will confess to her, and she will discipline me." He finished in a rush. This was embarrassing for him to admit to me, and so I left it there, not wanting to cause him further awkwardness.

"But you couldn't have possibly done anything as bad as…" I started to argue with him, but he cut me off.

"I assure you that I did, Sweet pea. And those experiences have given me the tools I need to deal with you today. You will feel thoroughly punished, but I will not _beat_ you," he said the word with disgust.

"Then… is the wait part of my punishment?" I asked him.

"Maybe a little bit, but I assure you that it is only a side-effect." He frowned slightly as he spoke. "The real reason is because I needed the time to prepare myself."

"Oh." I hung my head in shame, loathing myself even more at what he said.

"Truly, Bella." He tipped my chin up and kissed me on the forehead. "You are a treasure. Please remember that when I begin my portion of your discipline."

"I deserve for you to be harsh with me Dad." I told him, honestly, not wanting him to feel badly for having to discipline me.

"I know that you believe that, Sweet pea, but I don't think you're truly prepared for what _harsh_ is going to mean." He hugged me, beginning to get worked up. Whatever he planned to do to me must be causing him no small amount of heartache.

"I understand, Dad." I pulled away from his embrace to look him in the eye, but he didn't look convinced. "Well… I mean I don't understand how difficult it's going to be, but I understand that you are warning me."

"Yes." He kissed me on the cheek before swatting my behind playfully to get me moving. "Enough with this, we both still need to hunt, and I would just as soon put this behind us and move on."

I cheered up enough from our talk to finish my hunt, snagging an elk and a raccoon (not my favorite, but I wanted to make sure I was comfortably un-thirsty). Dad caught a bull elk and was satisfied. He finished before I did and waited until I felt sated. I ran over to him, thinking we were headed back to the house to finish, but he stopped me in my tracks.

"Isabella." His voice sounded cold and impersonal as he held out his hand in a motion that left me no question that he wanted me to not approach him any further. "Wait right there."

"Yes, Dad." I obeyed without question.

I watched him as he moved off to my left a bit to look for something. He seemed to be examining trees. When he had looked at about six of them, he karate chopped the one he had chosen, taking the top of the tree clean off and leaving a nice break.

Was Dad going to spank me out here? That thought scared me a little, but I could handle it. I deserved it. It didn't look as if it would be low enough for him to sit on and easily spank me. I must have been mistaken about that. Either that, or Dad was mistaken in where he had chopped the tree.

"Isabella, come here." He ordered, pointing to a spot right in front of where he stood.

I ran as quickly as I could over to him and stopped exactly where he pointed. I was a little upset that he kept calling me Isabella, but I tried not to let it show.

"Time and again, you've told me how badly you've behaved, Isabella. Do you believe that you've committed a large offense?" He asked me.

"Yes." I admitted, very ashamed.

"Then tell me, Isabella," I cringed as he said my full first name again, "what is my rule regarding discipline for a major offense?"

"You- you spank on the bare." I answered him, confused as to why he would ask me that. He had already done that when he spanked me earlier. He knew that I wouldn't fight him on this.

"And?" He prompted me to continue.

"And you spank over your knee?" I asked him, remembering this conversation that we had when he spanked me as a human. Again, I didn't get why he asked me this. Over the knee was my preferred position.

"No, Isabella." He narrowed his eyes at me in irritation. "I believe my exact words were that I would choose the position in the event that you were blatantly out of line."

"But you also said…" I recalled him telling me that he would choose across his lap.

"Enough!" He silenced me with a word, shouting. He had never raised his voice with me before, and it scared me. Had I been human, I would have been trembling, and my heart would have been pounding. I probably would have peed my pants. His voice returned to a more normal volume, though his tone was still icy cold. "I know what I said. And my intent was that in the event of a major offense, your position would be my prerogative. I _usually_ choose over my knees, especially if I need to control an unruly vampire, but I do not expect you to be unruly." He paused, looking me straight in the eye, daring me to challenge him. "Are you going to be unruly, Isabella?"

"N-n-no." I shook my head, dreading what was about to come out of his mouth.

"Bend over that stump, Isabella." He ordered me.

The bottom fell out of my stomach, and I couldn't help what came out of my mouth next, "Daddy, please, no!" I whimpered in despair, my lip trembling and my mind reeling. I didn't even give a thought to the fact that I had just begged him to not spank me that way.

"Sw-Isabella Marie," it sounded like he was about to call me Sweet pea, but he stopped himself. When I heard him falter and nearly call me his pet name for me, I realized that at this moment, I was not his daughter. I was the vampire who assaulted his mate. "Now." His order, though soft was not something I dared argue with. "I won't ask you again."

I wanted to argue, no not argue, but plead with him to please spank me over his knee, but I didn't. Even though it broke my heart, I knew that I deserved this. I quickly obeyed, resting the top half of my body across the stump. I had to stand on my toes because it was just a little too high for me.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." I whispered brokenly over and over as I felt him reach around to the front of my jeans and unfasten them. He was right. Though I had vowed to make it through the punishment without an empty apology, I couldn't help but say those words. I wanted my Daddy back. I kept up my chant as he roughly jerked down both my pants and panties.

I had known that I was in for a rough spanking, but at that precise moment, I didn't care how hard he spanked me. I didn't even stiffen to absorb the first blow. When it came, my heart broke, and I wailed in despair.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – From Dad to Coven Leader and Back Again**

**Carlisle POV**

I detested what I was about to do. Though _I_ needed a similar treatment when I was filled with guilt, it didn't make it easy to do this to my beloved daughter. The very thought of it made my gut churn even though I hadn't been nauseated in over three hundred years. I had no idea how Esme had done something like this to me… twice. I take it back; I did know. It was because I had such an enormous responsibility to our children, a responsibility that my wife did not take lightly, nor should she.

I decided that the first thing I had to do was to stop thinking of Bella as my daughter. If I continued to think of her in fatherly ways, it would make my task impossible. As of this moment, until we were finished, she would be Isabella, not Bella, not Sweet pea, not my daughter. She would be Isabella. She would be Isabella.

As my stomach clenched once again, I seriously regretted having drank such a large animal. I turned to see that Bella was finishing… no, not Bella, Isabella… I had to get in the right frame of mind. Isabella was finishing drinking a raccoon. Blech, as if I needed that picture in my mind. My stomach was already dangerously close to the point of vomiting, and Bel-Isabella chose to finish up with a raccoon. They were revolting.

_Enough with the damn raccoon, Carlisle,_ I told myself, focusing on what I was about to do. _Cold and dispassionate_, I reminded myself. _Detach yourself from being her father, and finish this_.

I knew that it wounded my spirit the two times Esme had been forced to do this with me, but I had no idea how much being administering this punishment would hurt me. I had never used this method with Esme. It wouldn't have worked with her. It would have been cruel. Bella, on the other hand… I could think of no other way to get through to her.

I knew that I had to both surprise her and emotionally break her because I didn't have it in me to give her the beating she thought she deserved. I had never been crossed the line from discipline to abuse, but Bella… Isabella wouldn't forgive herself with my normal spanking. I doubted even my harsh spanking would be enough to chip away at the self-loathing she had been and currently was engaging in. I had to end this for her, and my personal discipline at Esme's hand had taught me the way. I never thought that I would have to do this to one of my children. _Get it in your head; she is not your child. She is Isabella._

When she finished, I saw her turn to find me. I immediately held up my hand and shouted for her to stop, keeping my tone very firm, and carefully taking the compassion out of my speech and mannerisms. I fixed a cold, uncaring look on my face. The slight comfort she had gotten from our earlier conversation vanished instantly when she saw me.

"Yes, Dad." She sounded bewildered, but quickly heeded my warning.

I could feel her curious eyes on me while I took my time looking at trees. I had known which one I would use from the start, but making a show of this was part of the atmosphere I wanted to create. I used the side of my hand and aimed a blow at the tree, at my waist level. The top of the tree easily fell away from us, and I smoothed out the edges before I called Isabella to come to me.

She looked a little frightened and confused as I called out to her. Again, she quickly obeyed.

"Time and again, you've told me how badly you've behaved, Isabella." I paced in front of her as I spoke. "Do you believe that you've committed a large offense?"

"Yes." Her voice was so weak.

As remorseful and accepting as she had been both with Esme and me, she had broken one of the major rules regarding respect. I had to remind myself that, yes, she did indeed need this punishment.

"Then tell me, Isabella," I paused my march in front of her to ask her a question.  
I didn't look at her, though. I looked at the imaginary dirt underneath my fingernails instead, pretending to dislodge some of the offensive material. I wanted to make her feel very small and insignificant, "what is my rule regarding discipline for a major offense?"

"You- you spank on the bare."

"And?" I was going to have to drag this out of her. She had no idea what was coming. It had never crossed her mind that I might have something other than my normal routine in mind.

"And you spank over your knee?" She remembered most of what I had said. At the time it was my intent, but today… something different was needed.

"No, Isabella. I believe my exact words were that I would choose the position in the event that you were blatantly out of line." I informed her.

"But you also said…" She tried to remind me. It was no use. I had perfect recall. I had no need for the reminder.

"Enough!" I shouted at her, and considered swatting her for her insubordination, but when she flinched, I decided that the raised voice was enough incentive for her obedience. "I know what I said. And my intent was that in the event of a major offense, your position would be my prerogative. I _usually_ choose over my knees, especially if I need to control an unruly vampire, but I do not expect you to be unruly."

I knew without a doubt that B… Isabella would never defy me purposely, not in the frame of mind she was currently in. I asked anyway.

"Are you going to be unruly, Isabella?"

"N-n-no."

"Bend over that stump, Isabella." I pointed to my freshly made tree stump.

It took her a good few seconds for her to register exactly what I said and what was about to happen. I could almost see the change from her acceptance of the punishment to the realization of what it truly meant.

"Daddy, please, no!" She begged me, breaking my heart. I hadn't expected this. I had expected her to apologize, but not ask for something else. And I _knew_ this would be very emotional for her, but I didn't think that she would beg me not to do it.

"Sw-Isabella," I faltered but catching myself before I called her Sweet pea, mentally slapping myself in the forehead over that little slip. "Now. I won't ask you again."'

She obeyed, but I could see her still begging me with her eyes to spank her like a father would, not like a coven leader. My face was impassive, not betraying the emotions I felt just underneath the surface. I looked away from her devastated face so that I could continue.

The stump was a little too high for her to stand flat-footed. She had to stretch on her tip-toes to bend at the appropriate spot.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She whispered, shattering my already broken heart into a thousand pieces. I knew that she would apologize, and is what I intended. She needed this break to finally forgive herself. That being said, I nearly caved at the sound of her voice. As much as I had tried to distance myself from being her father, hearing her call me Daddy nearly broke my resolve. The only thing that kept me going was this: if I stopped now, she would feel guilty over causing me to stop, and it would be harder for this already guilt-ridden child to forgive herself. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm sorry, Daddy."

I chose to remove her clothing myself, and as I did, I could hear her apologizing over and over. At first it was a chant, but as I got nearer to the actual spanking, she began getting louder and more desperate in her pleadings until she was nearly screaming at me. Though it was clear that she would choose any other way than this position, the only thing that betrayed that emotion was her voice. She never moved or jerked away from me as I prepared myself, but her constant apology let me know that she wanted to be forgiven.

I gave her a few seconds to absorb her surroundings. She never even tensed to fight the pain. It took all my inner strength to raise my hand and land the first blow. When it landed, the sound that came out of my daughter was unlike anything I had ever heard. From her cries, I could literally feel the pain bleeding out of her heart.

I faltered, pausing at the pain in my chest. This sound caused me literal pain. For a few moments, I didn't know if I should continue. I said a silent prayer for wisdom. The answer that came to me was not what I had hoped. Very clearly, I knew that I must continue until her gut-wrenching wails had subsided. Mercifully, I also knew that the physical force of this spanking would not need to be as intense as I thought it would.

After a few breaths to steady myself, I continued swatting her bottom so that she could feel it wasn't over. The intensity was enough that she could feel it, and it would reignite the fire I set earlier, but honestly most of my children would have laughed at me if I attempted to correct their behavior with a spanking of this unimpressive magnitude. It was the second lightest spanking I had ever given, the first being the one I gave her when her was human. The only reason that spanking was less severe was because she wouldn't have even noticed a spanking of that intensity.

I swatted and swatted her upturned rear, reminding myself why I was here. It was the only thing that could keep me going. Isa… _who am I kidding_, Bella, no, my precious Sweet pea, she was the reason. Sure, she had hurt her mother, but I could have let her pay for that offense over my knee. The reason I was here was so that my Sweet pea could forgive herself. I silently begged her to let go as I relentlessly struck her backside. Though Bella didn't need a forceful spanking, my daughter needed a long spanking, absurdly long. It was more than double the length of any other spanking I had ever administered. Though each individual swat was lackluster in comparison to my usual spankings, the sheer length of this session would be enough to produce an extremely sore bottom.

I was nearly at _my_ breaking point (In fact, I had worn out my right hand and was well on my way to wearing out the left.) when Bella's wails abruptly turned into whimpers. I immediately stopped and fixed her panties, discarding her jeans. It probably would have been _unpleasant_, and I didn't want to waste the time to pull them up before comforting her.

She had not the will to rise off of the stump. It didn't matter anyway. I couldn't have let her do it. I bent down and scooped her up into my arms, cradling her, as I would have a small child.

I sat on the offensive stump with her, rubbing her back and hugging her while she grabbed ahold of my shirt with both hands. At this change of position, she once again resumed her apology chant. I told her time and again she was forgiven.

"Bella." I addressed her once her chant had ceased.

Her breath caught, and she started crying again.

"Hey, none of that." I told her.

"Am I s-s-still your S-s-s-swe…" she began to ask me, making me feel like a complete failure as a father.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry, Sweet pea." I cried with her, holding her more tightly. "I should have made sure you knew that the second I had finished. You are my Sweet pea, my little girl."

"No, I should have known." She sobered up a little, as always, willing to forgive others. "You told me to remember. I just had to make sure."

"You don't understand, Bella." I told her remorsefully, angry with myself for that awful mistake. "I really, _really_ should have known."

"I…" she started to tell me how confused she was. I could see it on her face.

I sighed and recounted a tale that none of my other children had ever heard.

"This doesn't leave the forest, Sweet pea. Do you understand? This is strictly between us." I asked her, knowing that she was completely trustworthy. She nodded. "Hmmm…" I considered telling her of the first time Esme had to step in and discipline me. But… that didn't seem right. Actually, I had been meaning to apologize to her for this for some time now, but the timing never seemed right. "After James tricked you into going to that ballet studio, after we saw you through your hospital stay in Phoenix, we came home.

"Esme sent all of the others away and met me in my study. I thought she wanted private time to…"

"I get it!" Bella covered her ears in horror, not wanting to hear about my sex life.

"Don't worry." I grinned devilishly at her, pulling her hands away from her ears. "I believe you've been punished enough for one day."

Bella gave sort of a half-hearted snort at my teasing,

"She actually came for a different reason." I confided in her. "She came to tell me how dishonorably I had behaved in that studio, and she asked that I relinquish full control of the family to her for an hour so that she could adequately punish me."

"You saved my life, Dad." Bella was shocked at her mother's assessment of the situation.

"Only by the mercy of God, Sweet pea." I admitted to her. "Your mother was completely right. _I _should have been the one to suck the poison out of your blood. Instead, I made Edward do it, Edward, who was indescribably tempted by the scent of your blood. Do you understand how easily he could have killed you?"

"You were attending my other injuries." She reminded me. Clearly she had been more aware in the studio than I had thought.

"Edward could have seen to your head wound, Bella. He has been through medical school twice, you know? Though he has never practiced, he is perfectly competent as a physician. As you're aware, vampires don't actually require practice to be perfect." I explained. "I should have never insisted that he be the one to rid your body of the poison. That could have easily pushed him past his limit of control, and he could have killed you. Your mother was quite shrewd in her assessment of my failure."

"Why didn't you…?" She started to ask me, hesitant of anything that resembled confrontation.

"To this day, I am unsure of my own motivations. Why did I allow him to do what I should have done? Was it my record, my _blasted_ perfect record?" I spat that thought out with distaste. Nothing should have been more important than my family. "I have to admit the thought crossed my mind, though, I don't believe that was the reason. I want to believe that it was because I couldn't relinquish control to Edward regarding your injuries. It hardly matters. Both reasons were selfish. Neither one justified my actions. I deserved every bit of the punishment she gave me, the spanking and… the other thing."

"The _other_ thing?" She didn't believe that her mother would have been harsh with me. "Mom, _Esme Cullen_? She punished you more than just a spanking?"

"Yes." I nodded shamefully. "It was our custom. It helps her feel that she has the authority to discipline me, and… it helps me forgive myself without obligating her to be excessively forceful. Though in this case, she was very angry and literally could have been excessively forceful. She had to calm down quite a bit before she even came to talk to me."

"Mom was angry with you?" She didn't sound like she believed that her mother and I ever disagreed. "Angry enough to beat you?"

"You have to understand, not only was she fairly certain that killing you would have sent Edward over the edge, especially if he did it by his own hand, but she also already considered you as her daughter. She could have easily lost two of her precious children because of my one selfish decision." I explained further.

"Oh." Realization hit Bella, and it made me wonder if she thought less of me now that she knew the depth of my imperfection. Earlier, she thought that there was no way I could have done something as horrible as she had today, but now she sees the truth. Could she still think of me as her father after this?

"The _other_ thing she did," I continued, "was very much like the punishment I gave you. Though she had done it one other time in our marriage, this second time was no less agonizing. Both times, she first requested I hand over my wedding ring before she spanked me. Even though she spanked me harder than she had ever spanked one of her children," thinking back, and comparing my punishments with the one I watched her give Alice. She definitely didn't spank me as motherly as she had with Alice, "the physical pain was not the real torture. Not being married to her, even briefly, crushed me. Much like you, I desired to be restored to my family." I cried as I relived the hole in my heart from being separated from my wife.

"Mom spanks you harder than she would one of us because you're held to a higher standard?" Bella sought clarification.

"Yes, and because as the leader of our family, my decisions can literally mean your life or death." I explained.

"But handing over your wedding ring… I don't know if I could have done that." She told me, her face etched with horror.

"That's why she always gives it back immediately and reminds me that we are indeed married." I sighed in frustration with myself. "That experience was excruciating, and I… I should have realized that you would want the same assurance."

"Really, Dad." She snuggled up to me. She shocked me, she still considered me to be her father. Even after I confessed to her that I had recklessly endangered her life. "Today was probably harder on you than it was on me. It's okay."

"I don't think that it was particularly easy on either one of us, Sweet pea." I shook my head at her, not exactly disagreeing with her.

"Do you…" I hesitated. "Can you ever forgive me for allowing Edward to drink your blood?"

"Already forgiven." She assured me, kissing me on the cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: This is it! This is the last chapter of this story. Thank you all for reading.**

**By the way, I love getting PM's. I have **_**many**_** ideas for stories right now, but some are only that, ideas with no resolutions. The two that I am currently working on are : Edward the Eternal Teen (Edward gets caught telling Nessie to give a human a vision), and Bonding with Bella (which I allude to in this chapter) . If anyone has ideas concerning either of these two hopeful stories, I would love to hear them.**

**Chapter 5 – Reconciliation**

**Esme POV**

"What did Bella do? How much did you spank her? Is she okay? What's dad going to do to her?" Edward asked me in rapid-fire questions as soon as I walked through his door.

I knew that he did this sometimes to get catch people who knew about his gift off guard. He had done this too many times, and I completely expected him to do it again today. By asking a person so many things at once, things tended to slip out into the forefront of their mind so that Edward could easily glean what he wanted to know, even if they were expecting it. I carefully thought about all decorating the house for Christmas. Since, last year, we had barely given it a thought, this year would have to do something special.

"That is for her to tell you, son." I told him with a slight reprimand in my voice.

Edward made a slight face and abruptly turned away from me. It was clear that he had hoped I would give him a hint about Bella and was frustrated with me for not telling him. I had known he would be curious. Being a mind reader had caused my son to become impatient when it came to not knowing things. He was used to being able to easily have all of the information he wanted, and when a person deliberately kept Edward out of their mind, it _irritated _him.

"How are _things_, Esme?" Jacob laughed, coming out of Renesmee's room.

"I was just debating Christmas decorations with myself." I told him simply, not letting anything slip. "Should we have one large family tree or individual trees for each smaller family unit? How would your pack feel about sharing a tree versus having their own tree?"

"I assume you mean for Christmas, and not for hiking our legs." He jovially teased me in his usual fashion, making a joke about dogs and trees. I couldn't help but smile at him. "I think one large tree would be great. It kind of symbolizes how all of us have come together as one large, kind of unusual family."

"That sounds perfect. We won't have a theme in decorating it." His enthusiasm got my mind racing, and I began making lots of decisions about what to buy. "It will be a mish-mash of all our tastes and cultures to reflect the very long journey our family has been on." I agreed, and then added to joke with him, "And… if you want, we could install a hydrant outside to take care of all of your _hiking_ needs."

Jacob paused for a second, not believing that I had said such a thing, and then doubled over in laughter.

"The two of you are infuriating." Edward huffed as he paced the room.

Edward continued his path for some time while Jacob and talked about Christmas and how to incorporate Quileute tradition into our celebration. We were suddenly interrupted by a jubilant little girl who ran in to greet me.

"Nana!" Renesmee came running down the hall. I knew that she was here with Edward and Jacob, and I had texted Alice to come get her as soon as I had left the main house. I wondered if she had let anything slip to Edward.

"Hello, darling." I smiled at my granddaughter who lithely jumped up. I easily caught her with my good arm.

She put her hand on my face and through her mind, asked me if Bella was still angry. I surreptitiously glanced at Edward.

"For Pete's sake!" He huffed. "I assumed that she lost her temper with Jacob! I just wanted to know what she _did…_ and what _you_ did."

"Your mother isn't angry anymore, sweetheart." I assured her, ignoring Edward.

"Grandpa is spanking her?" She wondered innocently.

"That is between your Grandfather and her." I told Nessie.

"Are you going to spank Jakey?" She asked me seriously causing Edward to laugh despite himself.

"I would pay money to see that!" Edward didn't even try to hide his mirth over this prospect. "No, I would take one too, just to see you spank Jacob. In fact, forget Christmas for me this year. That's what I want."

"Your father and I are going to speak with Jacob after your Auntie Alice comes to get you." I told her, mentally rolling my eyes at him for saying such a thing.

"No, Daddy!" Renesmee protested. "That isn't very nice."

"It certainly isn't nice wishing someone else would get in trouble." I agreed with her, reminding my son to be a good example for his daughter. _She's your daughter, Edward. She is still young and impressionable. Act your age._

"My daughter, huh?" Edward mumbled wickedly with a gleam in his eye as he looked at his daughter. I didn't like where this was going.

"What did your mother do?" He asked her sweetly, knowing that since she was his daughter, she would have to answer him.

"She didn't already tell you what she knew?" I asked him incredulously, knowing that Nessie didn't really see anything.

"She's been sleeping." Edward rolled his eyes at me.

"What did she do, sweetheart?" He asked her again, this time less innocently than before. He was irritated that I had tried to direct the conversation elsewhere.

"Well… Jakey and I played a trick on her…" Nessie started to tell Edward, but Jacob interrupted.

"This was all me, Ness." He corrected her.

I wondered if I would have to intervene in this confrontation, but the look on Edward's face surprised me. He looked strangely triumphant. Yes, I'd say he looked pleased with himself. I didn't get to ask why when Alice appeared at the front door to take Renesmee so that we could have our discussion.

The actual discussion with Jacob and Edward had gone better than expected. Of course, it helped that Edward hadn't seen what actually occurred on the motorcycle, and he didn't realize what had happened after. And Jacob and I did our best to keep what had happened with Bella out of our minds so that she could keep this private if she wished. There was an interesting tidbit that came out as a result of our conversation that I wished to speak with Carlisle about, but I couldn't think on it too long because Edward heard Carlisle approaching the house.

"What in God's name did he do to her?" Edward shouted in shock as he bolted upright from where he was seated. He had been relatively relaxed until he read Carlisle's mind.

"Calm down, Edward." I told him patiently, hoping desperately that I didn't have to intervene in another temper tantrum.

"You don't understand, Mother!" He pounded the table in frustration. "He's carrying her, and she isn't wearing any pants! How badly did he _beat _her if she can't walk for herself?!"

"Edward. Anthony. Cullen." I spoke very low, very seriously, each word separate and precise. "I do not _ever_ want to hear you imply that your father beat or abused one of you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." He nodded, somewhat afraid of this side of me. I rarely pulled it out, but when I did, everyone knew that I meant business.

I knew that Carlisle couldn't have possibly taken this punishment too far. The very idea revolted him. Edward, on the other hand, saw only his wife being carried by the man who had just spanked her. I did wonder exactly what had happened for Carlisle to have to carry her home without her pants. The fact that she was allowing him to carry her did suggest that he had gotten through to her. I sighed in relief, glad that Bella had been able to forgive herself.

"What about this situation brings you contentment, Mother?!" My son asked me, treading dreadfully close to becoming disrespectful.

"Young man," I addressed him, rising from my seated position, and putting my hand on his shoulder. Thankfully Edward had been seated to my left, or I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this task. "You will mind your tone with me or you will be joining your wife in earning a trip to your father's office today."

"He isn't coming from the office, Mother!" Edward's nostrils flared, as his voice increased in volume. I could tell that he was about to blow. "He's coming from the woods!"

"Sit down, Edward." I ordered him steadily, not rising to his bait. "I believe you should give your father the benefit of the doubt. Has he ever given you cause to believe that he would be unnecessarily cruel?"

"No, Mother." Edward dropped his volume to a normal speaking level, but he didn't heed my command to sit.

"Edward." I gave him a warning with my voice. "I asked you to sit, Honey."

"Sorry, Mom." He shook his head and quickly returned to his chair.

Edward's bottom had barely touched the chair when Carlisle came through the cottage door, as Edward had said Carlisle was carrying Bella who was not wearing any pants. Bella's whole body was curled into Carlisle as she clung to him.

"Do you want me to hold you for a little more?" Carlisle asked her, sounding hopeful.

"I need to talk to Mama." Bella answered muffled by Carlisle's shirt. Carlisle nodded in understanding, but it looked like he didn't really want to let her go just yet.

I started to rise as my husband gave his daughter one last hug, but Carlisle shook his head at me. Edward growled.

"She can walk to you herself." Carlisle told all of us, not acknowledging Edward's behavior. For some reason, I believed that he was implying that Bella needed to walk over to me, to approach me, on her own.

Carlisle placed Bella on the ground, and I smiled encouragingly at her as she looked up at me. My beloved daughter raced to my side and dropped to her knees before me.

"I should have listened to you, Mama." Bella cried. "I was wrong to take my frustration with Jacob out on you."

"Bella what did…" Edward tried to interrupt her, but she completely ignored him.

"I should have walked away like you told me to." Bella continued. "You were right. I was overwhelmed by my emotions, and I should have listened to you. I shouldn't have growled at you or even worse, snarled at you. I should have seen that you had more wisdom and experience in parenting than I did, and I should have respected you."

"Bella, tell me what…" Edward apparently was beside himself still about what Carlisle had done to his wife, but she was focused on apologizing to me.

"That's enough, Edward." Carlisle told him firmly. "This is important to Bella, and you will let her finish. Edward set his lips in a tight line, and stared down Carlisle. Though he was incredibly angry, he did allow Bella to finish speaking with me.

"I know that it ended when I…" Bella glanced at Edward, embarrassed that she had to make this confession in front of him. I started to offer to let her finish elsewhere when she continued, "when I ripped off your arm," she took a deep breath to keep herself from sobbing while Edward gasped at her admission, "but I treated you very poorly before that, completely ignoring all of your warnings. I allowed myself to become too angry to see the wisdom you were offering me. Please forgive me for my atrocious actions today, and tell me how I can mend our relationship."

"Oh, Bella!" I sobbed, stooping down to where she knelt. "I forgive you, dearest. You don't have to do anything, except please try to watch your temper when it comes to your daughter's safety."

Bella embraced me immediately, and I hugged her back with one arm.

"I promise, Mama." She cried as she held me tightly.

"That's the best apology I've ever gotten from anyone." I told her, smoothing her hair.

"Like I said, Bella should teach classes to our other children on how to accept responsibility for their wayward actions." Carlisle teased her.

"Dad!" Bella dropped her jaw in horror that Carlisle had said that in front of Edward. She looked positively anxious, but I couldn't figure out why.

Edward did not join in the mild joking that Carlisle engaged in. He was still determined to get to the bottom of what led to the scene before him.

Bella must have seen the expression on Edward's face because she immediately released me from our hug and ran to sit on Edward's lap.

"Are you very angry with me for hurting Mom?" She asked him.

Carlisle and I looked at one another as I rose back up to sit in the chair again. We both thought that maybe Bella had gone insane. Didn't she realize that Edward was furious with Carlisle?

"What?" Edward asked her incredulously. "All I want to know is, _What the hell did Carlisle do to you?_"

I was positively shocked by Edward's lack of respect for his father. Before I could stand up give Edward a piece of my mind, Bella put her hand on his face and kissed him.

"Edward." She said his name, chiding him softly for his choice of words. "I don't want to talk about it."

Edward's eyes shot angrily to Carlisle, and I worried that he had let slip how he had disciplined our daughter.

"I will tell you. I promise." She assured him. "But not right now. I am too close to… un-forgiving myself. I think the memory of it might bring me back there and make me wonder if Dad didn't do enough."

Carlisle smiled at her wisdom. I let Edward know with my mind that I thought she was being very wise.

"Bella…" Edward worried.

"Please trust me." She begged him.

"Okay." He reluctantly agreed.

"Now," she smiled wickedly, abruptly changing the atmosphere in the room, "tell me, what happened with Jacob?" She wondered, curiosity dancing in her eyes.

"As you can imagine, I was less than pleased when he told me what happened." Edward recalled. "So, I pulverized his motorcycle."

"Excellent." Bella rubbed her hands together mischievously. "Anything else?"

"Yes, but this one was Mom's idea." He told her, nearly laughing.

"I didn't want to punish Renesmee for Jacob's stupidity." I told her, and she reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Instead, I told him that after today, for the next two weeks, except for school, he was grounded to Edward's room in the house, and he could only leave if Rosalie wants to take him somewhere, and he is not to be unsupervised with you daughter."

"And he agreed?" Bella laughed merrily, loving the punishment I had chosen for Jacob.

"I wanted her to spank him." Edward laughed, remembering what Nessie had said earlier. "Apparently, that's inappropriate." He added sarcastically.

"Probably." Bella rolled her eyes at his suggestion, but giggled at the thought of me spanking Jacob. "But seriously, he actually agreed to let you ground him?"

"His other option was staying off of our land for the next two weeks." Edward told her, smiling with her. It was plain to see that since Bella was happy and laughing, he had lightened up over the exact details of Bella's punishment. "But I am not thrilled that my room will probably eternally smell like wet dog."

"Get over it, Edward. That's perfect, Mom." She told me, smiling. "Thank you for sitting in for me."

"You're very welcome, Bella." I told her, thinking that she had more than made up for her disrespect by asking me to sit in for her. It really showed me that she trusted me. I had often wondered if she really thought of me as her mother the way she saw Carlisle as her father, but after an appalling beginning, she had really shown me today that I needn't worry about that anymore.

"Now," Edward's eye gleamed roguishly, "I want to hear more about these classes the White-Noser is going to teach."

Bella very briefly looked upset, and by very briefly, I mean less than a tenth of a second. After that momentary expression, I saw her fix a pleasant smile on her face. She didn't want anyone to know how much the name-calling hurt her. I slapped Edward in the back of the head with my good hand, only wincing slightly at the impact. Carlisle, however, gave him a piece of his mind. His voice sounded mirthful, but his eyes told us that he was serious. Even so, he didn't seem to realize that this really had hurt Bella's feelings.

"I insist you cease with the name-calling lest I join in the jest and call you… What was that name Emmett had for you?" Carlisle feigned an inability to remember.

"Dad, no!" Edward shouted, mortified.

"Oh, yes, I believe it was Virgil." Carlisle finished, not sparing Edward from the humiliating name Emmett had created for him to tease him for being a hundred year old virgin. Carlisle had declared a moratorium on that particular name once he had finally caught on to the meaning. There was a brief period after when Emmett tried to trick us by switching the euphemism to _Edward is from Virginia_. Since that was rather obvious, we caught on immediately.

Bella bit her lip to keep from snickering. She figured it out instantaneously. Though I'm sure she was glad that she was the only one Edward had ever made love to, she was thrilled to know that Carlisle was on her side about the off-color nickname.

"That doesn't apply any more." Edward argued rather grumpily. "In case you haven't noticed, I have a daughter."

"And that other nick-name never applied to Bella, since she doesn't kiss my rump… and I can assure you that my feces were brown like everyone else." Carlisle told him in an even tone, raising his eyebrow at him. "She's your wife, son. Nicknames should be… less mean-spirited, and more… enticing. For example, I call your mother…"

"Stop!" Bella and Edward shouted in horror.

"Speaking of mean-spirited…" I began, finally getting to address a matter that I think was overdue. "Our children have been wagering over which offense Bella will commit first to earn her first vampire spanking." I told my husband as I watched the expression on his face change from mild frustration to anger. "Edward won, apparently."

"Edward wagered that Bella would get a spanking for losing her temper?" He asked me, not believing that for a second.

"No." Bella closed her eyes, holding back a sob. This little wager clearly irritated her. "He specifically bet that I would lose my temper if I believed Renesmee was in danger. The others thought I would lie to you to cover for one of them."

"How does that make you feel?" He asked her, concern for his youngest daughter etched across his face.

"Like I still will never belong." She cried, admitting this for the first time ever. "Like maybe I really am a novelty, a _distraction_," she said the word bitterly, and Edward cringed, "and that's all I will ever be."

"Oh, sweetheart!" I cried with her, reaching out to her with my good arm. I knew that Edward had called her a distraction when he left her, but I didn't know it had become hard-wired into her brain.

"This is where I'm supposed to belong. This is where I'm not supposed to be a fr-r-r-eak!" She continued, clearly more hurt by this than anyone knew. I wondered why Jasper didn't know how badly this hurt her.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.

"Because they told me that…" She sobbed into her hands. Carlisle raced over to Edward and took her from him, unable to keep away from his hurting daughter. Edward fought to keep her in his grasp, but Bella reached out for Carlisle. Edward relented.

"_I_ told her that we made bets about one another all of the time. _I_ told her that it was just a game we all enjoyed. It was just part of being a Cullen, and she shouldn't be uptight about it." Edward admitted, ashamedly. I could see that he was devastated that he brought back the feelings of abandonment in her.

"Jasper didn't feel how hurt she was?" Carlisle echoed my skepticism.

"I didn't w-w-want them to know I…" Bella started to cry again, barely containing the depth of her hurt. "I just wanted to fit in."

"That doesn't answer my question, Sweet pea." Carlisle reminded her as Edward suddenly vacated his chair. Carlisle must have asked him with his mind to do that because he immediately sat in Edward's place beside me. "Unless you're saying that you've figured out a way to fool Jasper."

"I just put my emotions away and feel them later." Bella breathed heavily in an attempt to regain control, snuggling closer to Carlisle. "I didn't want Edward to know that I _still_ didn't belong in his world."

Edward looked physically ill as he stood frozen in horror. He had no idea what he had set in motion when he convinced her that he didn't love her so long ago. I looked to Carlisle who also sat motionless. Regret would not be a strong enough word for the look in his face. In fact, it didn't even come close. My own mind reeled at what she said, and since it didn't look like Carlisle or Edward could form a response at the moment, I took it upon myself.

"You absolutely belong with us, Sweetie." I assured her, kissing her forehead. "You are our beloved daughter. Your father and I told you this before, remember?"

"Mmhmm." She nodded, sniffling, "when Edward and Alice kidnapped me."

"Yes." I stroked her hair, smoothing it away from her face. "If anyone tried to take you from me now, I would fight them to the death, sweet girl. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mama." She told me as she reached out and took my good hand.

I raised my eyebrow at Carlisle in a way that said, _you had better start assuring our daughter, right now!_ In answer, Carlisle blinked a couple of times and then nodded subtly to me.

"When you came to me for a spanking when you were human," Carlisle broke out of his fog, "remember what I said to you?"

"That you never wanted to hear me say that I wasn't your real daughter…" She remembered, looking like she would be blushing if she could.

"You belong with us, Sweet pea." He assured her, kissing her in the exact same spot I had kissed her.

"As for you, young man…" Carlisle rounded on Edward who still looked horrified over what he and his siblings had done.

"We didn't mean for her to feel _that_ way. We were actually trying to make her feel included." Edward pleaded with Carlisle to see it from their point of view.

"By mocking her for being well-behaved?" Carlisle raised his eyebrow at our son. "That is saying nothing of that ridiculous name you have all decided to call her. How did being called _Virgil_ make you feel?"

"Terrible." Edward confessed, looking more embarrassed than before.

"And that is why you came to me to ask them to stop." Carlisle reminded him. Edward shifted his gaze to the floor. Carlisle continued. "Yet you found it fitting to harass your wife in a way that you admit hurt _your_ feelings. I don't understand this, Edward."

"I didn't think about it that way, Dad." Edward told him. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"What exactly did you win from your siblings?" Carlisle prevented Bella from answering.

"Emmett has to dress up in a pink Hello Kitty sweatshirt and wear it for a week. Jasper has to drink two gallons of whole milk. Rosalie has to clean all of the rest stops in Washington with no gloves…" Edward told him, rattling it off as fast as he could.

"Alice?" Carlisle asked.

"Pretended that this was beneath her because she couldn't see what the outcome would be." Edward told him bitterly. I guessed that he was secretly wondering if Alice had seen this future and refused to bet. Edward shook his head at me. I then wondered if Alice remembered the spanking I had given her and actually took Bella's side for once. I didn't get to see what he thought of that because Bella drew my attention to her.

"That was actually the only part I enjoyed." Bella told us, smiling a bit. "We all knew that Alice didn't want to bet because she didn't know for sure, but when we called her on it, she pretended that it was because she didn't want to hurt my feelings. Even though I knew that wasn't the reason, it was at least somewhat gratifying to know that Alice will cheat to win and won't play a game that she can't be assured of victory."

"We've all suspected that for years, but no one could ever prove it." Edward chuckled.

"How do you know Alice wasn't sincere about her reason for staying out of this?" I asked them both, wanting to believe that Alice alone had acted nobly.

"She isn't '_out of this_.'" Edward explained using the quote fingers as he threw my expression back at me bitterly. "She's the bookkeeper for the whole sorry affair." He threw his arms up in the air in exasperation. "She also runs the pool dedicated to guessing _when_ Bella would get spanked, updating a website daily to let us know the status and placing odds around certain events."

"That's quite an operation you have there." Carlisle deadpanned, letting Edward know with his eyes, and quite probably his mind that he wasn't impressed.

"None of you thought that this could be hurtful to Bella?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, you, Edward, obviously knew she didn't like it when you basically told her to get over it." 

"I thought she _had_ gotten over it." Edward told me petulantly. "After that conversation, she never let on that it bothered her."

"Because you made her believe that any feelings of hurt on her part meant that something was wrong with her!" I shouted. "How did you not know that this was the wrong thing to do?"

"I don't know, Mom." Edward bowed his head in shame.

"Let me ask you something else." I continued my lecture, not lowering the volume of my voice very much. Did she join in the festivities and joked with you all about her futuristic discipline sessions? Everyone in this family is aware of Bella's inability to lie convincingly."

"No, she… usually… … … _left_…" Edward shut his eyes realizing what they should have seen all along. "Why the hell didn't I see how much you hated what we were doing?"

"I don't know." I told him. "But you had better plan on making it up to her.

"Oh, they will." Carlisle jumped in. The look in his eyes told me that if the children didn't make Bella feel like part of our family, there would be many trips to his office and many very sore backsides.

"I would also like to know what your penalty would have been had you lost." Carlisle pressed.

"Emmett created a ten hour song that combined the musical stylings of Bjork, Phillip Glass, the worst of American Idol rejects, and Nyan Cat." Edward told us, but he must have seen that we didn't think it was that much of a penalty for losing. "Trust me, he has a real knack for it. He likes to leave chords unresolved, cut measures off before the last beat, and things like that. I think he may have been studying torture methods when he created that song. I would have had to listen to it every day for a week."

To a musician, it would have been frustrating, but this somehow lacked the _Emmett_ embarrassment that I would have expected.

"That's because they coordinated." Edward answered my thoughts. "That was actually Rosalie's idea. Emmett just implemented it. Emmett's task for me would have been to go to a Seahawks' game wearing an I _heart_ Justin Bieber shirt, a hula skirt, and stilettos, topped off with a lacy thong on my head… and whenever anyone spoke to me, I would have to sing them _I'm Too Sexy_."

"That sounds more like Emmett." I laughed.

"He had to modify it when I pointed out that we would get in a huge amount of trouble if we were video taped." Edward added, probably because Carlisle raised his eyebrow at him. "He changed it to wearing that… ensemble… to drop Nessie off to see Charlie while Jacob is there."

"Better, still deplorable, but better." Carlisle told him. "And Jasper?"

"His wasn't so bad." Edward shrugged. "He just wanted me to organize a Civil War reenactment."

"That's not all of it." Bella disagreed with him.

"Fine." Edward rolled his eyes. "I had to dress up like a Nazi with a pink swastika, a rainbow wig and Elton John glasses and do the, _Gangnam Style_ danceduring the reenactment._"_

"I'm sorely tempted to make all of you do all of those things." Carlisle told him seriously. Edward's eyes got really big at this statement, and Bella tried to hide a smile. "But… I don't want to constantly remind Bella of this asinine bet, and I don't believe that it will foster bonding with her either.

"Instead, the six of you are going to take two weeks, just the six of you to bond. The focus of this vacation will be making sure Bella knows that she is part of our family. We can iron out the details later, but I want Bella to really know, deep down that she belongs with us."

"Perfect." I agreed with him, smiling.

After Carlisle and I left the cottage, he began to doubt himself. When he was sure we were out of hearing range, just as I moved in to kiss him, he slipped off his wedding ring and held it out to me. I shrunk away from it, not wanting to take it from him.

"I made a horrible mistake, Esme." His voice shook with shame. "Keep this until you are able to physically punish me."

"Do you mean to tell me that you believe that you took Bella's punishment too far?" I asked him in disbelief.

"I mean that I went about it in a completely wrong way." He answered. "I thought that she could benefit from the same brand of punishment that you give me when I make a mistake, but I couldn't have been more wrong."

"What do you mean the same brand of punishment I give you?" I asked him, frightened that he had done something horrible like take her family crest from her or as I did with him, maybe he had taken her wedding ring.

"I took our very insecure daughter out to the forest and emotionally distanced myself from her to give her coven, not family punishment." He admitted, just barely holding back sobs. "I'm not sure if I should apologize to her or spoil her or just insist that you…"

I interrupted him placing my finger on his lips. Very carefully, I took the ring out of his hand and put it back where it belonged, on his finger. I could barely keep his ring for the length of a spanking. Even if he did need discipline, which I didn't believe he did, I couldn't bear to have his ring for three to five days.

"It seems like that was just what she needed to get through this whole mess." I reminded him.

He jerked away from me in frustration and balled his fists at his sides. I didn't take it personally. The only time Carlisle ever got truly angry was when it was with himself. Though in the past, anger would have frightened me, I knew that the only one Carlisle ever hurt in his anger was himself, and that was emotional hurt, not physical.

"There _had_ to be another way, Es." He argued. "Look at her! Bella is the only one of our children who _always_ call us Mom and Dad, even when she isn't being punished. She is also more obedient than any of our other children, by a wide margin. I wonder if that's because she's afraid that since she doesn't really belong, a mistake will get her thrown out of the family." Carlisle paused to pick up a rock. "And what did I do? I temporarily threw her out of the family!" He threw his rock spitefully into the trunk of a very large tree. The rock went straight through and left a nice sized hole.

"You know that you didn't throw her out of the family." I rolled my eyes at him.

"But she thought I did." Carlisle argued with me, determined that he was wrong. "How much do you think that reminded her of what Edward did when he left her? I wonder if his words played over and over in her mind while she was bent over that stump. I _hate_ those words that he said to her. I truly hate them like I've never hated anything. They have haunted her until she doesn't know how to accept love and forgiveness!"

"Carlisle Cullen!" I said his full name, putting as much authority in it as I could. I hoped that my tone would grab his attention. "Stop beating yourself up. She knows we are her family. She has a husband and a child, and she knows that she's our daughter."

"Yes, she has a child that she showers with unconditional love. Our little granddaughter is truly blessed. No one loves more deeply than our Sweet pea." He agreed, and I thought that I had finally convinced him to stop torturing himself. "Bella went through the whole pregnancy basically alone and fought for her daughter every day. Then she delivered in the most horrific fashion and had to be changed after just barely meeting her. After waiting three days, suffering agonizing pain, to see her daughter again, to really hold and love her, Renesmee had already been taken from her, having imprinted on Jacob. Is it any wonder our baby is so uncertain of her place in our family?"

"In time she'll come around and really feel and accept the love and permanent place she has in our hearts." I assured him, walking to his side and putting my arms around him.

"She wants nothing more than to know she will always be our daughter, and for the duration of her spanking, I took that away from her!" He shouted, once again shrugging out of my embrace. "That was without a doubt the cruelest thing I could have done to her! What if this sets her back and makes her feel even more unsure of her place with us?"

"That was not the cruelest punishment. Not by a long shot." I disagreed. "You could have physically distanced her from our family and sent her to live with her human father for a week as punishment. You could have taken her family crest away from her. You could have done any of the physically abusive things she wanted you to do. Or… you could have actually kicked her out of the family."

"I meant reasonable things." He huffed in frustration.

"Other coven leaders would have done worse than that, and you know it." I reminded him.

"We are NOT a _coven_!" He punched a tree in frustration.

"I know." I chuckled at him, feeling like he was missing my point. Carlisle would never truly punish anyone in this family in a way a coven leader would punish one of its members. Though he may have convinced himself that he had distanced himself from being her father, in my heart I know that he really and truly hadn't done that. My guess is that he struggled to refrain from calling her Sweet Pea while he was being cold and distant.

"I deserve to be ripped to shreds for what I've done to her, Es." He abruptly turned and held his ring out to me once more. His ability to self-castigate rivaled Bella's. "Take it."

"No." I told him, folding my arms in front of myself.

"TAKE IT!" He roared, not really at me, but at the pain inside himself.

I stood there in silence, not knowing what to do or say to make him understand that this was completely unnecessary. It seemed interminably long that we held our stalemate. We were broken out of our uncomfortable silence by the sound of Bella's voice.

"Mama, no!" She shouted at me, running in front of Carlisle to protect him, ready to advocate for her father. She had obviously misinterpreted what she had seen. "You can't take his ring, Mama! I promise he didn't abuse me!"

"I know he didn't." I told her calmly. "_He_ doesn't seem to know that, though."

"What?" She was genuinely confused.

"He refuses to believe that he gave you exactly what you needed." I explained.

"What are you doing here, Sweet Pea?" Carlisle asked her, more coldly than he normally would have spoken to her.

"Alice told me, and I quote…" Bella smiled at him, sheepishly, ignoring his tone "_Carlisle is in the woods about to pull a Bella._"

"Excuse me?" I laughed at her.

"Apparently, I'm known for wallowing in shame, embellishing stories so that I look awful, and you know, things like that…" she trailed off, rolling her eyes as she spoke dismissively of her behavior.

"That you are." I agreed with her. "And apparently, your father has the same propensity. He thinks he has caused you severe psychological damage."

"What?" She looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Please don't do this. You know that spanking is just what I needed, right?"

"I wasn't too harsh?" He asked her skeptically. "No one has ever broken down the way you did, and I kept going? I never once considered that you feel your connection to our family is fragile and tenuous. I should have found a punishment that reminds you that you are my daughter, not one that made you think I would never consider you my Sweet pea again."

"You didn't mean it that way, Dad." She reminded him.

"But that's what you thought. Is it not?" He asked her.

She didn't look him in the eye. Instead, she bit her lip and gazed elsewhere, not wanting to admit that she had actually thought that.

"Therefore, I was in the wrong and deserve to be punished as well." He resolved, thrusting his ring forth once again.

"I believe that motivation matters." I broke in to their conversation, still refusing to take the ring from him. "If you tell me honestly that your intent was to make your daughter feel unloved, then I will gladly tan your hide."

"Of course that wasn't my intent." He admitted sullenly. "I wanted to spank her in a less fatherly way…"

"Because you enjoy emotionally torturing me, or because you didn't want to physically beat me as badly as I felt I deserved?" Bella asked him, already knowing the answer. We were ganging up on him, and we were not ashamed about it. My husband needed the encouragement at the moment, and we weren't shy about forcing it on him whether he wanted to hear it or not.

"You know why." He nodded, looking rather embarrassed.

"I do, but do you?" She teased him.

"Yes." He sighed, accepting that he had done the right thing.

"You also realize that I was perfectly capable of walking back home, right?" She pressed to make sure he knew she was emotionally fine.

"Yes." He repeated.

"Then why did you carry me?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Because I couldn't make myself put you down." He admitted sheepishly. "I needed to hold my little girl."

"And I needed my daddy." She told him.

"And I need you to put your ring back on." I ran to him, embracing him. This time, he accepted my affection, hugging me back, and pulling Bella into our circle as well. "I never want to see that off your finger again."


End file.
